Customer Review(s)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Wish I could make it work!
Comment: Installation on both a pc and a mac was easy. Getting the USB MIDI driver installed on the pc was annoying and time-consuming - but that's not a Sibelius issue.
My biggest complaint now is that I am unable to use the supposedly superior "flexi-time" note input mechanism. I am a pianist and professional piano teacher, my fiancé is a computer professional, and between the two of us and way too many hours of trying to make this work, we still haven't figured out what is wrong. Apparently I am not the only one with this issue. Online I found this cry for help: "When I use flexi-time, there's a delay between when I play the note and when I hear it over headphones. Unfortunately, the delay appears in the score, in the form of a persistent eighth rest preceding the first note, which bedevils the entire arrangement. Much manual fixing and re-inputting required, rendering flexi-time more or less useless."
"Useless" is what this program is to me at this point. Sibelius's online helpcenter does not cover this issue, and the phone support is only available during business hours Mon-Fri, except holidays (this is Saturday before Memorial Day).
I googled and found several online help sites but none has an answer to this problem. Some say to "fiddle with the preferences" - tried that, didn't do diddly.
Ideas, anyone??
Customer Rating: Summary: Sooo much better than Finale
Comment: Sibelius 5 is incredibly good. I've been using Finale (2000) for quite a few years now, and there was a moment in using it a few weeks ago when I asked it to do an arpeggio in 4/4 time with 3 groups of triplet sixteenths in the space of three triplet eighths and it f***ing EXPLODED. I threw up my hands, and downloaded the trial version of Sibelius 5. Granted, it took a little getting used to, and I'll probably still be discovering some of its secrets for years to come, but from off the bat, it's good and fun to use.
I can copy a figure and repeat it (But it doesn't want to let me copy parts of measures that involve triplets, you have to copy the whole measure.) without trouble. After you figure out how to use the voicing tool (or layering as it's called in Finale), it's quite good. I have some trouble writing acciaturas at the ends of measures when the music changes clef, but for that one instance it wasn't a big deal.
The above issue that caused Finale to explode was a cinch on Sibelius 5. This is worth every penny, and I look forward to exploring more of its capabilities in the future..
Customer Rating: Summary: Absolutely Incredible
Comment: Sibelius 5 is essential music notation software for anyone who needs this sort of software--professionals, educators, students and amateurs. Sibelius is, quite simply, as powerful as it is easy to use. While, I think, many more people are familiar with Finale, and while the end product of your score would probably be the same if you used Finale, with Sibelius, it's much more fun because it's so extremely easy.
Here are a couple of specific things I like about it: Cross-staff beaming is a breeze. If you make a change in a conductor's score, the change is instantly updated in the individual part. Formatting is instant if you move things around.
Also, if you're a film score student, Sibelius 5 has several videos, complete with scores, built in, and video instructions teach you how to do it.
If you're an educator, Sibelius 5 comes with hundreds of worksheets that I find to be extremely useful.
In fact, the best way to see how easy Sibelius is to use is to go to their website, www.sibelius.com, and download a demo version. Please note, this demo is the full notation software. Unlike other demos that hold back many of its key features, this demo will let you do anything and everything--with the obvious exception of printing and saving. Try it out for yourself and see just how easy it is.
I continue to be amazed at how powerful and easy this software is. Try the demo, then come back here and buy it.
Customer Rating: Summary: Top notch software for any musician
Comment: This is a wonderful notation software for any musician. As a Middle School Orchestra director, I use it to compose, arrange and transpose appropriate materials for my students. In addition, I can create and customize worksheets that focus on specific skills, concepts or techniques that I'm addressing in their performance materials and method books.
There are quite a few ways you can input your notation making it a fairly swift process. You can input using the piano scroll, midi, microphone, mouse, computer keyboard or you can even purchase an add on software that allows you scan music in.
One thing you need to keep in mind when you are purchasing this software is that you will need a DVD rom to install this software. It is Vista compatable, but Vista has some issues that can make it difficult to install. My laptop has Vista and I had all sorts of problems with installation and ended up getting help. This software is well worth the hassle you may encounter when installing under the vista operating system.
